Big-Raven and the Mice - Koryak

Some Mouse-Girls walked along the seashore. The youngest Mouse also
wanted
to follow. Her mother said, "Tie her (and leave her) on the
seashore." They
bound her with two strings of her diaper. She began to
squeal, "Pawawawa'!"
and they said, "What is it?"--"I have found a genuine small nail."--
"Go to
her!" They went to her. "What is it that you have found?" But it was
only a
small shell. "Oh, strike her!" They struck her, and she
whimpered, "Igigi'!"

After a while she turned to them again, and began as before, "What
is it
that I have found? Oh, indeed, it has nails! Oh, indeed, it has
eyes! Oh,
indeed, it has whiskers!"--"Go to her and see what she has found!"
They came
to her, and really it was a small ringed seal.

Big-Raven said, "Eh, eh! Why are those Mouse-Girls shouting and
dancing?"
Miti' said, "Oh, leave off! Why do you want to go to them?" But he
went to
them. "Well, there! Mouse-Girls, what is the matter with you?"

"Oh, nothing! only this Hairless-One grew angry with us." He
said, "Louse
me, (one of you!)" One Mouse-Girl said, "I have pricked myself with
my
father's awl." One might think she were the daughter of some
artisan. He
said to another small girl, "Louse me!"--"I have pricked myself with
my
mother's needle." One might think she were the daughter of some
seamstress.
"O Hairless-One! louse me." She said, "Eh, all right!" She loused
him. (He
said,) "Oh, say (these words): 'Grandfather's lice taste of fat!'" 1

Then he shook his head, and the small mice were scattered in all
directions.
Some fell into the sea, some into the coast-slime, others into the
river,
and others again on the pebbles. Big-Raven took the little ringed
seal and
carried it home. The Mouse-Girls crawled to the shore and asked one
another,
"Where did you fall?"--"I fell into the sea."--"Then you were cold."-
-"And
where did you fall ?"--"I fell on the small pebbles."--"Then you were
pricked."--"And where did you fall?"--"I fell into the coast-slime."-
-"Then
you were cold."--"And you, Hairless-One, where did you fall?"--"I
fell on
the moss 1 spread by mother."--"Then you fell easy."

They said, "Let us go home!" They went home and told their
mother, "See,
mamma! we have found a small ringed seal, but grandfather took it
away."--"Did he? Then we will fetch it back. O daughters! go and
look into
his house." They looked in. Then they came back and said, "Eine'mqut
is
skinning it."--"Now you there, [you Mouse-Girl,] go and look in!"
She looked
in. "Just now they are cooking it."--"Now, you there, this one, go
and look
in there!" She looked in. "Just now they are taking the meat out of
the
kettle." Mouse-Woman said, "Oh, I wish Big-Raven would say, 'We will
eat it
to-morrow!' We must find a shaman's small stick (used in magic). Oh,
you
there, small Mouse-Girl! take this bundle of grass (on which magic
had been
practised) and carry it to Big-Raven's house. There drop it through
the
vent-hole."

They (the Mice) took it and carried it there, and dropped it into
the house.
Big-Raven immediately said, "Miti', we had better eat this meat to-
morrow."
And she said, "All right!"--"Oh, you, small Mouse-Girl! go and look
into the
house!"--"Just now Miti' is arranging the bed."--"And now you, go
and have a
look!"--"Just now they have gone to sleep, they are snoring."--"Now,
there,
let us go!" They took bags and iron pails, went there, and put all
the
cooked meat into them, also what was left of the broth. They
defecated (into
the kettle), also filled Miti''s and Big-Raven's boots with small
pebbles.

Next morning they awoke. "Miti', get up! Let us eat!" Miti' began to
put on
her boots. "Ah, ah, ah! ah, ah, ah!"--"What is the matter with you?"-
-"Oh,
nothing!"

Big-Raven then put on his boots. "Ah, ah, ah! ah, ah, ah, ah!"--"And
what is
the matter with you? You cry now, just as I did."--"Oh, stop
(talking),
bring the cooked meat, heat the broth!" Miti' drank some broth, (and
immediately cried out,) "It tastes of excrement, it tastes of
excrement!"--"Oh, bring it here!" Then Big-Raven also cried, "It
tastes of
excrement, it tastes of excrement!"--"Mouse-Women have defiled us."--
"I will
not forgive this. I will stun them with blows. Bring me my big
club!" She
gave it to him, and he started to go to the Mouse-Women. "Oh,
grandfather is
coming. Tell him, 'Eat some pudding of stone-pine nuts!'" "What good
are
those puddings of stone-pine nuts! I have no teeth."--"Then have some
cloud-berry-pudding." "Yes, I will eat some of the cloud-berry-
pudding." He
ate of the pudding. ""Grandfather, lie down on your back and have a
nap!"--"Yes, I will have a nap, lying thus on my back."

He slept, and they fastened to his eyes some red
shreds. "Grandfather,
enough, get up!"--"All right! now I will go home." He went home; and
when he
was approaching, and came close to the house, he shouted all of a
sudden,
"Miti', tear in twain the worst one of our sons, to appease the
fire!"
Without any reason she tore her son in twain. "And where is the
fire? just
now you said, 'It burns.' What happened to your eyes? They have
shreds
fastened to the eyelids. The Mouse-Women have defiled you." He
said, "Hm!
now at last grew angry. Bring me my club. I will go there and club
them."

He went there. "Oh, grandfather is coming! Say to him, 'Have some
pudding of
root of Polygonum viviparum!'"--"What for?" "Then have some pudding
of
berries of Rubus Arcticus."--"Yes, I will have some pudding of
berries of
Rubus Arcticus." He entered, and began to eat the
pudding. "Grandfather, lie
down on your side and have a nap!"--"All right! I will lie down on
my side
and have a nap."

He slept, and they painted his face with charcoal. "O grandfather!
get up,
the day is breaking!"--"Yes, all right! I will get up." He awoke.
"Grandfather, have a drink from the river there!"--"All right! I will
drink." He went away, and came to the river. He began to drink, and
there he
saw in the water his own image. "Halloo, Painted-Woman! you there, I
will
drop a stone hammer as a present for you." Oh, he dropped
it. "Halloo,
Painted-Woman! I will drop down my own body! Halloo, Painted-Woman!
shall I
marry you?" Oh, he jumped down into the water. That is all.

Footnotes

23:1 See Jochelson, The Koryak, l. c., No. 88, p. 260.

25:1 It seems that the Hairless Mouse-Girl, according to the custom
of many
native tribes of this country, was killing the lice with her teeth.

26:1 Used as a child's diaper. See W. Jochelson, The Koryak, l. c.,
p. 252.

KORYAK TEXTS

by Waldemar Bogoras

Reposted with Permission from Dream's Archives

From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories.